Paper drinking cup



p 0, 1938. L. v. LUCIA 2,131,003

PAPER DRINKING CUP Filed May 8, 1955 Patented Sept. 2Q), ig

Unite strin s earn-sir lineup Corporation, York a corporation oi NewApplication May 8, 1935, Serial No. 20,383 4 iiiaims. (craze- 53)This'invention relates to that class of paper drinking cups which areintended to be used once and then discarded. It is very evident thatcups of this class must necessarily be of such 5 form that they can bemanufactured in a most economical manner.

It is preferred to have cups, of this type of a substantially taperedform in order that the cup' may be more readily grasped in the hand ofthe 10 user and held with less pressure on the cup than is required tohold a cup which is not tapered.

The method now commonly used in producing cups, and especially those ofsuch tapered form, consist of first cutting out blanks from a stack 15of paper sheets, then placing astack of blanks in a machine which picksup.one at a time, by means of a suction device, and forms them intocups.

In producing cups in this manner the opera- 20 tion is necessarily slowand the equipment required is very costly as it is necessary to have airpumps in connection with the forming machine and also large presses forcutting out the blanks.

The object of my invention is to construct a paper drinking cup in sucha manner that it can be formed from a substantially square blank whichmay be cut from a web of paper that is supplied to a forming machinefrom a roll; the 80 operation of cutting a blank from the web serving atthe same time to trim the blank so as to give it the proper form with aminimum of waste. A further objector my invention is to provide adrinking cup which, when folded, has 'suiflcient 85 overlap to preventleakage of water therefrom and is sufllciently reinforced in a mannerwhich will render it of maximum rigidity,

- Further objects of my invention can be clearly understood from thefollowing description and 40 the drawing in which:

5 Figure 1 is a plan view showing my improved cup in its final form.

Figure 2 is a side view thereof in central vertical se'ctionillustrating the cup in its open form.

* Figure 3 is a view showing the blank as it is produced by cutting ofione corner of a square sheet of paper. The said corner being shown indotted lines.

Figure 4 is a similar view of the blank showing,

by dotted lines thereon, the lines on which the wings of the blank arefolded.

Figure is a view showing the same blank partly formed into a cup by thefirst and second folds with the line of the third fold shown dotted .65thereon.

Figure 6 is a view illustrating the manner in which a blank is cut froma web of paper and also showing the piece of waste which is trimmed fromthe blank in the same operation.

As shown (in Figure 3 of the drawing) the nu- 5 meral 5 denotes theblank which consists simply of a square sheet of paper with one of thecorners thereof (shown in dotted lines) cut off.

For the purpose of description, this blank may be said to comprise abody portion 5 and two wing portions 88 as clearly illustrated in Figure4 of the drawing. The wings are first folded on the body portion at thepoints indicated by dotted lines 9-9 into the form shown in Figure 5 ofthe drawing. It will be here seen that the wings overlap each other insuch a manner that they may be readily glued together in a suitablemanner.

After the blank is in the form shown in Figure 5, the bottom portionthereof is folded back at the point indicated by the dotted line l0 andalso glued thereto, thus forming the completed cup shown in Figures 1and 2 of the drawing.

It will be noted that the wings 8, 8 overlap for a distance below thefolding point, on line H], thus providing a seal for the bottom of thecup which will eliminate leakage.

The flap ll provides a reinforcement'for the cup, which makes possiblethe use of lighter weight paper with satisfactory results.

It is pointed out that by forming a cup from the blank as abovedescribed, the upper edges l3 of the wings 8-8 will be disposed belowthe rounded edge I 4 of the body portion of the cup. This provides anadvantage in the use of the cup since interference by the users noseduring the drinking operation, will be avoided by means of the spaceprovided between the said edge and the opposite edges I3 on the cup.

As illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawing, the 4 blank 5 may be cut froma web of paper i5 which is preferably supplied from a roll. This blankis cut off from the said web by a suitable cutting tool which also cutsoif the corner 6 of the blank at the same time, thus completely formingthe blank 5 in oneloperation.

In order to reduce waste of material to a minimum, the blank is cut withits axis I 6 at an angle of approximately 45 to the axis I1 of the webso that the sides of the web form two opposite sides of the blank andthe cutting off operation will form the other two opposite sides.

Adhesive material is applied to the web, as indicated at l8, before theblanks 5 are out thereirom.

This material is applied to the web in an interrupted line in order toeliminate presence of adhesive at the point where the blank is cut off..I

After the-blank is folded to the form shown in Figure 5, adhesive isapplied as indicated at H. The flap II is then folded over, on the lineill, and pressed down on the adhesive thus causing it.to adhere ,to theside of the cup.

It will be readily understood from the above description, and from thedrawing, that by means of the novel design of the cup described, it ismade possible to produce a drinking cup from a blank extremely simple inform and which may be readily cut from a web, to which adhesive ispreviously applied, with a minimum amount of waste and folded into a cuphaving maximum rigidity.

By this invention applicant has also provided a cup which can be readilymanufactured in an automatic machine that will produce the said cup froma web of paper; thus eliminating the necessary labor and waste which isrequired when the blanks are cut from a stack of sheetsof paper as nowcommonly done in producing tapered cups.

WhileI prefer to cut oil the'cornerrB of the blank inorder to provide amore attractive cup with a rounded edge l4, this corner may be left onthe blank, if desired, thus rendering a simpler cutting-01f operationand at the same time eliminating all waste of material.

I claim:

1. A paper cup comprising a blank having a point at the bottom thereof,side edges diverging from said point and opposite side portion foldtheed into overlapping position upon the central portion of said blank onlines diverging from a point off the said blank and spaced from thebottom thereof.

2. A cup of the character described formed from a blank'comprising aparallelogram having a comer portion thereof cut off, opposite cornerportions folded back in overlapping position upon the central portion ofsaid blank; the top edges of said overlapping corner portions beingentirely disposed below the top edge of said body portion.

3. A blank for a cup of the character described comprising asubstantially square sheet of material having its axis extending throughtwo corners' thereof; one of said corners being rounded and said blankbeing folded on lines diverging from a point in line with said axiswhich is off the said blank and spaced from that corner thereof which isopposite the said rounded corner. 4. A cup of the character describedconstructed from a blank of sheet material comprising a body portionhaving a lower portion terminating in a point at the bottom of saidblank, side portions, the said side portions being folded intooverlapping position upon the said body portion, in a manner whereby thesaid lower portion of the body portion is exposed; said lower portion,together with the lower portion of each of said side portions, beingfolded upon said overlapping side portions and into contact therewith.

'LOUIS V. LUCIA.

